Houston fire and police respond to reports of documents being burned at Consulate General of China  —  HOUSTON - Houston police and fire officials responded to reports that documents were being burned in the courtyard of the Consulate General of China in Houston Tuesday night, according to the Houston Police Department.

Trump's ugly law enforcement crackdown is even alienating Republicans  —  Under fire for dispatching federal law enforcement into cities in defiance of local leaders, in part to create TV imagery that sends an authoritarian thrill up President Trump's leg, top officials are offering several new defenses.

NFL owner and Trump ambassador to UK sparks watchdog inquiry over allegations of racist and sexist remarks and push to promote Trump business  —  Washington (CNN)The billionaire NFL owner who serves as President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Kingdom was investigated …

Here's Every Time Donald Trump And Ghislaine Maxwell Have Been Photographed Together  —  Topline: During a Tuesday coronavirus briefing, President Trump offered well-wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime confidante who now faces multiple federal charges related to Epstein's alleged sex ring.

A new Trump campaign ad depicting a police officer being attacked by protesters is actually a 2014 photo of pro-democracy protests in Ukraine  —  Foto: This image of protesters and police in Ukraine, from 2014, has been used by the Trump 2020 US election campaign.

‘What choice do we have?’:  Portland's ‘Wall of Moms’ faces off with federal officers at tense protests  —  PORTLAND, Ore. — A thick wall of tear gas crept closer to the wall of moms in yellow shirts chanting, “Don't shoot your mother,” as they faced off with federal agents during another night of nonstop protests.

Matt Gaetz appears to run afoul of House ethics rules  —  Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has privately engaged in several spending practices in his nearly four years in office that appear to be in conflict with the House's ethics rules, a POLITICO investigation has found.

Biden campaign goes on offensive against Sen. Ron Johnson's Burisma probe  —  Joe Biden's presidential campaign on Tuesday launched a highly personal broadside at Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, for pushing forward …

Tucker's Got Real Scandals, So He Keeps Inventing Imaginary Enemies  —  The Fox News star went on vacation after his chief writer was exposed as a bigot, and returned just as he was accused of harassment.  So he doxxed a reporter to change the subject.  —  BEAST INSIDE

Americans tune in to ‘cancel culture’ — and don't like what they see  —  One of the few things that Barack Obama and Donald Trump agree on is cancel culture.  —  In the last year, as numerous public figures have become the targets of online campaigns by social media swarms …

Founder of Never-Trump Super PAC Arrested in $60M Bribery Scheme  —  The founder of a prominent political action committee opposing President Donald Trump's reelection was arrested on Tuesday in part of a public corruption probe.  —  Matthew Borges, a lobbyist and former chairman …

Hearst Employees Say Magazine Boss Led Toxic Culture  —  At Cosmopolitan staff meetings, workers complain of discrimination and tokenism.  Former employees say Hearst Magazines president Troy Young made sexually offensive remarks.  —  For decades Hearst magazines have advised American women …

Biden, leading Trump by eight points, also has a big advantage with undecided voters: Reuters/Ipsos poll  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic candidate Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 8 percentage points in support among registered voters, and the former vice president appears …

Three brothers are behind a series of viral videos trolling Trump  —  (CNN)A little known Democratic group called MeidasTouch posted a video on Twitter less than two weeks ago that began with Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump's longtime aide, lashing out at presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The breathtaking unconstitutionality of Trump's new census policy  —  President Donald Trump talks to reporters while hosting Republican congressional leaders and members of his cabinet in the Oval Office on July 20 in Washington, DC.  Doug Mills/Getty Images  —  It's a direct attack on the 14th Amendment.

Trump Is Determined to Split the Country in Two  —  New offensives against major cities from President Donald Trump and GOP governors are pushing at the central geographic fault line between the Republican and Democratic coalitions.  —  On one front, Trump is taking his confrontational …

Small Businesses Brace for Prolonged Crisis, Short on Cash and Customers  —  Hopes for a quick economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic have been dashed, and companies are exhausting rescue funds.  Many are shutting down or slashing jobs again.  —  TEXT  —  46 RESPONSES

The U.S. Is on the Verge of Lockdown 2.0 … (Bloomberg Opinion) — After two months of what looked like a nascent recovery, the U.S. economy is faltering again.  Restaurant reservations, one of the most commonly tracked indicators of local business activity, are stagnating:

Derek Chauvin charged with tax fraud in Washington County  —  More legal trouble for former officer charged with murder of George Floyd  —  Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police officer charged with second degree murder in the killing of George Floyd, has been charged with nine felony counts …

Senate GOP, White House consider side deal to extend unemployment benefits  —  Senate Republicans and negotiators from the Trump administration are considering a short-term extension of supplemental unemployment benefits, which are set to expire on July 31, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) confirmed to reporters Wednesday.

AP-NORC poll: Very few Americans back full school reopening  —  BOSTON (AP) — Virtual instruction.  Mandated masks.  Physical distancing.  The start of school will look very different this year because of the coronavirus — and that's OK with the vast majority of Americans.

Why Is the Left Angry at Republicans Working to Elect Joe Biden?  —  Conservatives are always looking for converts, the old saying goes, while liberals are always looking for heretics.  This would explain why so many of each are so angry right now.  Joe Biden's campaign has attracted …

The November Election Is Going to Be a Mess  —  American voters face a nightmare in November.  The recent stretch of primary elections has raised a slew of red flags of glitches, missteps, incompetence, and worse that could plague the national elections in November.

Rand Paul on Liz Cheney: 'I don't think she's good for the country'  —  (CNN)Sen. Rand Paul, a long-time critic of Rep. Liz Cheney, joined the conservative pile-on of the Wyoming Republican, saying on Wednesday: “I don't think she's good for the country” and accused her of trying to “sabotage” President Donald Trump's foreign policy.

Twitter bans 7,000 QAnon accounts, limits 150,000 others as part of broad crackdown  —  Twitter announced Tuesday that it has begun taking sweeping actions to limit the reach of QAnon content, banning many of the conspiracy theory's followers because of problems with harassment and misinformation.

Silent spread of virus keeps scientists grasping for clues  —  One of the great mysteries of the coronavirus is how quickly it rocketed around the world.  —  It first flared in central China and, within three months, was on every continent but Antarctica, shutting down daily life for millions.

Top GOP super PAC jumps into Kansas Senate primary after Democratic meddling  —  A super PAC aligned with top Republicans is launching a major new ad buy in Kansas, where the GOP is attempting to stop controversial candidate Kris Kobach from winning the nomination in a must-win Senate race for the party's endangered majority.

Netanyahu Decides on November Election, Leveraging Political Chaos, Sources Say  —  Sources close to PM say he is convinced that ahead of the evidentiary stage of his corruption trial, a petition will be filed with the High Court to force him to declare he's unable to lead country and attend legal proceedings